Celina will take out a loan to cover the remaining expenses of a new fire truck.
Mayor Luke Collins said the city could either pay for the $265,000 truck out of the general fund, or take out a loan to pay it off over time. Collins said there is enough money in general fund to buy a truck, but the loan made more sense given Celina’s current financial state.
“It’d be about $5,000 a month for five years,” Collins said. “So, as opposed to paying all that upfront, it would be spread out over five years, which would help us with our finances.
Currently, the city only owns three fire trucks. Fire Chief Jamie Allen said the oldest is a 1978 model, and the newest was a 1996. Allen said the new fire truck will replace two old ones, which can be sold to help pay off the loan.
“When this is all said and done, we’re only going to have two engines,” Allen said. “We’re going to have Red and of course our squad, which is our brush and off-road truck, and a car.”
Collins said the loan would total some $240,000 since the city has already made a down payment on the truck. Collins said the loan will come from one of Celina’s local banks.
Allen said the two vehicles could be sold for $20,000. Additionally, the city will have fewer vehicles on the insurance.
Allen said final inspections on the new truck should be complete this week. He said it could arrive in Celina later this month.
“What we’ve seen of the truck, it’s pretty clean,” Allen said. “Inside the pump house, you can’t find dirt. They’ve sent a lot of good pictures, and inside the pump house, there’s not even no dirt.”
Allen said the truck is currently located near Allentown, Pennsylvania. It has just 17,000 miles and 953 hours on it.
